


A Promise

by MCUsic_to_my_ears, mxy



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Awesome Pepper Potts, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Feels, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Angst, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Dissociative Identity Disorder, F/M, Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Panic, Panic Attacks, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Phone Calls & Telephones, Protective Bruce Banner, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 15:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14718899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MCUsic_to_my_ears/pseuds/MCUsic_to_my_ears, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxy/pseuds/mxy
Summary: As Tony is being wisked away into space, he takes a moment to call Bruce.





	1. Catch Me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By mxy

He had been here before.

In a completely alien realm, after ignoring his peer’s protests and better judgment and instead opting for the path of most resistance.

 _Deja vu_ , the phrase echoed in his mind prompting memories of Loki’s invasion, and Ultron’s attack to play in a continuous, torturous loop.

Though, unwelcomed, these recollections resurfaced because they shared a resemblance to his present situation. Perhaps this involuntary reaction was to ease him somehow; illustrate that he was a veteran, an Avenger, therefore he could resolve this dire conflict.

But this justification crumbled.

In his years, despite his overwhelming knowledge of these circumstances, he had never been struck with this unwavering sensation of emptiness. Everything from the air of the space-vessel, to the taste in his mouth, was nothingness, emptiness, and loss.

He could not overanalyze things. Not now. There was only the battle ahead. Feelings, emotions, and suspicions would not be pondered on.

“Boss,” F.R.I.D.A.Y said in her artificial, yet soothing voice.

“Yeah-What?” His thoughts were broken, momentarily.

“Would you like me to contact one of your favorites?”

A holographic screen appeared in front of him with four names written in white, capital letters on translucent gray bars. Tony looked at the options before him and sighed.

 

PEPPER POTTS

HAPPY HOGAN

JAMES RHODES

 

Though he’d wouldn’t admit it, F.R.I.D.A.Y. sometimes knew him better than he knew himself.

F.R.I.D.A.Y knew his silence meant he was feeling discouraged; she knew his idiosyncrasies in both battle or social settings; she knew what he desired sometimes even before he did. However, she never overstepped her creator's boundaries; she was made to aid not dictate or persuade.

The names hovered before his eyes none of them satisfying him.

Tony knew the spacecraft had mere minutes before it launched out of Earth’s atmosphere into the void. He had already established that indulging in emotions would weaken him, yet here he was blatantly disregarding his own rationale.

“Banner. Call Banner.”

“But boss—”

“Get it done.” his voice was demanding and enunciated.

She acted like she was surprised by his choice.

The screen with his contact options disappeared, his armored helmet withdrew exposing his face to the chilling environment of the ship for the first time.

One beat.

Two beats.

The dial tone ended.

“Hey, big guy.” he managed to keep his voice steady. Or at least he thought he was keeping his voice steady.

“Tony?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” None of his signature bravado seeped into his words.

“Please tell me you’re not on that ship.”

“I can’t tell you that. But, look I...” His usual eloquence was deteriorating.

There was a pause on the other end.

“ _Bruce_ ,” he reassured. Softly.

His eyes fluttered and closed, he gulped before continuing, “I’m going to be fine, okay? You’re talking to the guy who flew a nuke into a wormhole.”   
“You barely made it back.”

“But I did. And you caught me.”

There was a calm and comfortable silence. The quiet lasted a moment before F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice rung in his ear, warning him that they would have approximately a minute before there would be no more cellular service.

“I have to do this,” he said more for himself than the doctor. “You know I have to do this.”

“No, you don’t.” his voice broke.  
“Please just tell Pepper that I’ll be fine.”

Silence.

“I _will_ be fine,” he promised.

“But I won’t be there to…” Bruce’s voice trailed off.

“Catch me?” Tony tried for humor but his voice caught.

“Yeah.”

All of the memories spent fighting, working, or laughing alongside Bruce had, momentarily, washed out the traumatic thoughts and memories plaguing his mind. But when he had finally relaxed, he was met with the crushing realization that this was finite; the grin faded.

F.R.I.D.A.Y’s words echoed through his ear, “10 seconds boss.” He thought she sounded dismal, but he ignored her: he only cared about one voice.

One tear fell.

“Stay out of trouble.”

Two tears fell.

“Please, Tony. I—”

Call Lost.


	2. I'm Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By MCUsic_to_my_ears

It should have been raining. If this were the movies, it would have been raining. But this wasn’t the movies; this was real life. In real life, Bruce’s best friend could be spirited away on an alien spaceship in broad daylight only a half hour after he'd been slingshotted across space in a rainbow and deposited on Earth. So, no. It was not a movie. This was considerably more real than he had hoped for and it made his breath burn in his lungs. He wiped his hands, feeling some sort of future plan fall numbly out of his mouth. Bruce stared down at his broken phone, flipping it open. Steve's contact name sat there like a stone in Bruce's stomach. He bit his lip and jabbed the arrow button. 

He blinked. 

_ Incoming Call: UNKNOWN NUMBER _

He hit answer. There wasn’t a question of the consequences of an unanswered call. 

“Hey, big guy.” The voice was so painfully blank. There were no remnants of a usual jovial tone bleeding in, only a masking of the pain, the fear, but also the affection that Bruce knew used to reside there. 

He shook his head disbelievingly, “Tony?” He knew who it would be—Who else would it be?—but sheer relief still coursed through the question. Confirmation. That was all he needed. 

“Yeah, it’s me.” Bruce wrapped an arm around himself. He felt bile rise in his throat.

“Please tell me you’re not on that ship.”  _ Dear Lord, Tones, _ he choked on his own breath,  _ Lord.  _

He knew the answer to that, just like he knew who was on the other end of this call, but knowledge is suffering and Bruce Banner sure as hell knew how to suffer. 

“I can’t tell you...” 

He forced himself not to chuck the phone across the street.  _ Get off that ship _ , he wanted to scream,  _ Get off while you still have an atmosphere to do it in.  _ He didn’t want to hear Tony’s weak attempts to downplay it. There were no excuses. Not this time. He pressed the phone against his forehead for a moment, pushing his back against a crumbling brick wall and slipping down, not listening to the desperate words on the other end. His head pounded, and for once— _ too late _ —he could almost glimpse the Other Guy.

The cool screen quickly became slick with condensation, so he put the phone back to his ear. He dried his palms on his pants quickly. 

“ _ Bruce _ ,” he heard, but there was only preemptive grief in the plea. 

His hands shook. He wasn’t sure what with. “I’m going to be fine, okay?” Tony promised. “You’re talking to the guy who flew a nuke into a wormhole.”    
The doctor jolted to his feet, tears burning in the back of his eyes. “You barely made it back,” he accused. 

“But I did. And you caught me.” 

Tony was right; Tony was always right. But it didn’t invalidate his fear even as he felt his tears recede at the reassurance. Because he knew Tony. He knew that the genius would do whatever it took to make it home. That’s why it hurt so goddamn much. Because he knew that Tony would try even harder to save the planet on those same terms. 

Then, the engineer murmured, “I have to do this. You know I have to do this.”

And just like that, the minute peace was gone. “No, you don’t.” The words felt tight against his throat. His chest ached. 

“Please just tell Pepper that I’ll be fine.”

Bruce held back a cry. 

“I  _ will _ be fine,” Tony swore.

“But I won’t be there to…” He couldn’t finish the thought for fear of letting his emotions out. And he knew what that led to. 

“Catch me?” 

“Yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair. 

“Stay out of trouble,” Tony begged. Bruce could hear the raw fear in Tony’s voice. 

“Please, Tony. I need you. I. Tony-” A harsh tone bled into the air. “Please.”

The phone blinked. 

 

_ Call Lost _

 

Bruce felt like the air had been knocked out of him and shut off the valve that let any relief from the emptiness in. With no way to pull himself back into the physical world, he delved inward, calling for the Other Guy. “Please.” His mind felt raw. “You can have it. You can have it all—a body, a life, friends, family, war, peace—anything. Just take it now. Please, Hulk, take it now. I can't do this, I can't- everything hurts.”

No one replied and then he was knocked back out, knocked onto his knees. Fire seared behind his eyes; nothing had hurt more. But he’d been duped into trusting Tony, and now he had to honor that. He pulled himself to his feet, bracing himself against a nearby wall when his knees buckled. He stumbled forward, his vision graying out momentarily, passing demolished blocks of abandoned buildings until he found a pay phone that wasn’t uprooted. He slipped inside, breath short. 

His fingers shook as he pressed the ten digit code, the same one Tony had pressed into his palm the first time his feet itched to run from the safety of the tower, into the keypad.

“Stark Industries Emergency Line, please identify-”

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, call Pepper, please- I need. Please.”

“It is good to hear you Dr. Banner,” the AI intoned, connecting him with the CEO. 

“Please,” he coughed. 

”Who is this?” Anxiety threaded through her voice. 

Bruce ran a hand over his mouth. “Me. Banner. Bruce.” He cleared his throat. “Pepper, have you been watching the news?”

“When di-? Yes, Tony-”

“He’s in the ship,” Bruce confirmed. “He wants you to know that he’ll be okay. That he’ll get home soon.”

A choked breath echoed over the line, but the red-head evened it out. 

“You know Tony,” Bruce soothed, “He’ll pull through, he always does.” He saw suits exploding above water. 

“I know,” she whispered, feeling phantoms of the apoptosis in her veins. Emergency service sirens began closing in on Bruce.“Just. Stay with me. Please. Just for a little while.”

“I can’t,” Bruce apologized, “I have to go, before-” He shook his head. “I’ll see you soon,” he swore. 

“Okay.”

The line went dead for the second time that day. 


End file.
